The studio congregated at Pontoon Docks, and just 15 minutes east from the bustle of the City the difference in landscape was quite incredible; the view from the DLR station was of derelict factories, disused land, and an unwanted, windswept feel to the place. Here we met Rowan a can-do type of guy who was responsible for helping to consult local people on the up and coming London Pleasure Gardens. LPG is the brainchild of a group of companies led by people behind Shangri-La at Glastonbury, and is looking like the project most likely to be realised out of the winners of the
Meanwhile London competition launched by Nehwam Council.
The site is a fantastic historic dockland but surrounded by an unusual context; the Listed (apparently untouchable asbestos-laden) mill building, out of scale suburban housing, the dominant Excel Centre that will host a number of Olympic Events, and further afield the Thames and the towers of Canary Wharf. In the face of a seemingly impossibly complex set of site conditions (including 40000 a day crossing the site during the Olympics) LPG proposes a light-touch semi-permanent carnival, which will be open the public at times and ticketed for weekend and events. Their model is 100% privately backed, and includes a music stage in a geodesic dome, a temporary hotel made of caravans, 'wilderness park' with 'architect-designed' pavillions (Rowan seemed confused when asked if architects were involved for most of the other temporary elements!).
The proposals are certainly ambitious, especially given the requirement to be ready by June (a condition of the free lease), but LPG did not appear phased by the tight timescale. This reflected a key aspect of the project; coming from the tradition of festival-making the team behind LPG are expert at programming, haggling and borrowing, getting in the right expertise to 'get on with it', and doing the right amount to 'put on a spectacle' within the limited budget they have (such as the construction techniques of scaffold and hoardings). Whilst these skills are clearly centred around 'event-driven' architecture, they are all skills that many architectural practices could benefit from.
From Pontoon Docks, another DLR ride northwards through Newham took the studio to Stratford, where the impact of the Olympics is immediately apparent from the colourful panel-clad blocks that have sprung up along the main high street. Within the broad spectrum of the architectural profession/discipline it would be hard to find a much greater contrast than between these speculative commercial blocks and the nearby warehouse taken over by the architecture collective 'Assemble'. Here we met Lewis and Louis, our enthusiastic guides to the work of Assemble and two of around 20 young designers and makers that make up the collective, which is predominately Part 1 architecture graduates who met in Cambridge. After graduating and all desperately wanting to do 'something' (note here that working as a Pt 1 CAD monkey for a large practice was not considered as something), they brainstormed derelict space in London, found a disused petrol station and designed and built a temporary 'Cineroleum' all for a miniscule budget of £6000 (mostly their own money!). Directly of the back of this (and Louis' contacts in MUF), they also completed
Folly for a Flyover, which won great acclaim within architectural circles for its witty design and cheap DIY construction ethic.
Perhaps the most interesting part of a long (and generous) discussion was the current status of the group; having taken on the warehouse on a temporary (free) lease from the ODA and also having just won a ‘real’ commission to reimagine New Addington High Street, Assemble were in the process of reshaping themselves as a functioning practice, with salaries, invoices and proper decision-making. It was obvious that this process runs the risk of tarnishing their chaotic but defining characteristics (bargain recycled construction, volunteer builders, ‘do anything’ mantra, and pub meetings), and might make the group think hard about whether this type of practice can be maintained as a lifestyle beyond the ‘student days’. However it was fascinating to see a group of 19-20 year olds ‘doing something’ that many in the architectural profession dream about but are too fearful of leaving the security of an established practice.
The third appointment of the day saw us meet up with SSoA Studio 15, who are investigating self-organised practices within the creative melting pot ‘wasteland’ that is Hackney Wick. Beginning as a research project into other self-organised communities, and several of the students seemed to be grappling with the idea of a kind of ‘architectural manifestation’ of a community that didn’t actually require top-down architectural design. To get to the meeting point, a newly formed ]Performance Space[ studio converted from an old plumbers merchant, we traversed the incredible site of the Olympic construction. The scale and pace of change in this area is quite astounding given its proximity to (and often built right over the top of) so much rich history and ‘stuff’. The impact on Hackney Wick is also clear, with the artists in Performance Space already talking about the next cheap and empty area that people were talking about moving towards. There was also the idea raised that the commercial and residential developments being built off the back of the Olympics becoming a future slum, although the almost constant pressure for private housing in London seems to make that unlikely. After a busy visit, the day was appropriately rounded off with a presentation from Andreas on public works, accompanied by fantastic supper (and vodka) by our hosts.
